I quickly arranged the bones, casually placing them in a way that only I could understand. With her head tilted, Song Jie blurted, "What are you doing? Writing your girlfriend's name?"
Just when I noticed something strange about the bones, she added, "Hey, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Why do you talk so much?" I helplessly complained.
“I’m trying to ease my fears," pouted Song Jie.
I stuffed the bones back into the earthen jar and carefully placed the jar in the grave. After filling the hole with soil, I covered the surface with grass which made it unnoticeable from the outside. Then, I moved onto the next grave.
"What did you find?" asked Song Jie. “Why don’t you say something?”
“Don’t you know? Empty vessels make the most noise!"
"Oh, cut it out with the suspense!" cried Song Jie.
By the time I had examined the three skeletons in the same manner, it was midnight. I wiped the dirt off my hands and said, "I’ve figured out the truth."
"What is it?" queried Song Jie.
"The reason why it seems the corpse appeared out of thin air,” I explained. “The bones from the first two graves I just examined are missing two ribs, and the third one is missing two vertebrae..." I scanned the area, "If my guess is right, there are a few bones missing from the corpses under each grave. And these missing bones make up a complete skeleton!"
Covering her mouth in shock, Song Jie gasped, "Don’t speak in such a grave tone! Why do you make it sound so frightening? Why would the missing bones make a complete skeleton?"
"Isn't this obvious?"
Song Jie stomped her feet, "How is it obvious? I don't understand at all."
I sighed and explained that the corpse in the banyan tree meant one of the graves was empty. In order to keep the fact hidden, the murderer produced a corpse by removing one or two bones from each of the other corpses.
"Who would do such a thing?!" exclaimed Song Jie.
"I think the question is who can do such a thing?” I smiled. “In this village, there’s only one person with access to all the bones and can remove one or two bones without arousing any suspicion. And that is... "
Right then, Song Xingchen interjected, "Someone’s coming!"
Who would come up the hill in the middle of the night?
The three of us immediately found a place to hide.
From a distance, I noticed a spot of light moving slowly up the hill–it was a flashlight. Our eyes were temporarily blinded by the light so we couldn't see who it was.
Someone soon walked up to one of the graves, knelt down and placed the flashlight aside. Pulling out paper money, the person began burning them. "XX, I’ve come to see you again. I hope you’ll be reincarnated as soon as possible and stop pestering me."
This voice was very familiar–it was none other than Granny Yan!
Her voice was almost incomprehensible due to the distance.
Song Jie lowered her voice and gave me a thumbs up. "Song Yang-gege, you’ve incredible foresight! She’s really the murderer!"
I desperately motioned for her to remain silent.
Though soft, Granny Yan overheard Song Jie’s high-pitched voice. She rose to her feet in a panic, looking around anxiously. "Is that you? I was forced to do those things. Don't come looking for me anymore. Go to that person instead!"
It seemed she was guilty. At this moment, all I wanted was to jump out and interrogate the old woman. But in this environment, Granny Yan might be scared to death given her age. Unfortunately, this was as far as the clue led tonight. I planned to visit her tomorrow.
Terrified, Granny Yan picked up her flashlight and slowly made her way down the hill. We stayed hidden until she disappeared from sight.
"Let’s check the grave!" I suggested.
On the ground in front of the grave were ashes of the burnt paper money. Using the previous method, I removed the earthen jar from within and soon confirmed my conjectures. This skeleton was pieced together with bones from other people but the skull was missing Perhaps due to the size of the skull, removing it would be too conspicuous.
Granny Yan’s deception was ingenious to say the least. The old woman managed to keep the truth hidden by producing a “corpse.”
"But what's the point of her doing this?" Song Jie argued.
"Of course there’s a point,” I said. “If the corpse inside the banyan tree is found, someone will visit the graveyard to investigate. When the jar of bones is unearthed, there’s no way of determining the victim’s identity due to the mixed jar of bones. After all, the first step in solving any case is to determine the victim’s identity"
At the thought of this, I added, "Was Granny Yan the person who declared the banyan tree sacred?"
"Yes, she personally hung the cloth on the branches,” nodded Song Jie. “Do you think she’s the murderer?"
"I’ve not determined that,” I shook my head. “By the way, do you know whose grave this is?"
There wasn't a tombstone in front of the grave. Upon looking around, Song Jie said, "I’ll have to ask my mother. The graves on the hill are arranged according to generation and age. Check the genealogy and we’ll know."
Right then, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted our conversation. But the visitor wasn’t holding a light. Song Xingchen immediately pulled out his sword, ready to attack. When we finally caught a glimpse of the visitor, we realized it was Song Heting.
"Why aren’t you sleeping? You worried me to death!" cried Song Heting.
"Aunt Song, I’ve found some clues. Do you know whose grave this is?" I asked.
Song Heting waved her hand, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. What time is it? Go to bed now!"
I quickly restored the grave to its original appearance, taking the earthen jar with me.
"What are you going to do with this?" Song Jie curiously asked.
"It’s evidence!" I declared.
"Oh my God! You’re going to keep these bones at home? What if this draws ghosts to the house?" Song Jie quivered.
"And which ghosts would that be?" I laughed.
This skeleton was made up of dozens of people. Would all these ghosts show up together?
After another peaceful night, Song Heting took us to the ancestral temple the next morning and brought out our genealogical records–a yellowed scroll, full of names. And the names of all the people in this village were recorded on it.
Song Heting searched for the recently deceased Song family members. I suddenly noticed a familiar name–Song Yang.
"Why is my name written on this?" I blurted in surprise.
Song Heting smiled, "Because you’re one of us."
I glanced at Song Xingchen and Song Jie, "No, the name written here doesn’t refer to me! When Song Jie first met me, she asked why there were two Song Yangs. And when we went out together, she seemed a bit off when she called me ‘Song Yang-gege’ and I answered. So the man named Song Yang is actually... "
"You!" I pointed at Song Xingchen.
Song Xingchen’s eyebrows twitched slightly, his microexpressions betraying him.
"Yes, Song Xingchen's name on the genealogical records is Song Yang. He changed his name when he reached adulthood. Xiao Jie used to call him Song Yang-gege when they were little."
"Xiao Song Yang, looks like you’re the smartest one among us!" praised Song Heting.
"In fact, I noticed my grandfather's name on the tablet and my aunt's name is exactly the same as yours. Is there any hidden mystery behind this?"
"There isn’t one.” Song Heting explained, “Our names are the same because the martial Songs are shadows of the civil Songs!"